Sister Soldiers

Pregnancy just what critics feared

May 25, 2004|By Tribune Newspapers.

Lynndie England returned from Iraq in trouble. The young Army reservist was implicated in the humiliating abuses of Iraqi detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad. She was also pregnant by a fellow soldier from her unit.

Within weeks of her reassignment from Iraq to Ft. Bragg, N.C., the prisoner abuse scandal mushroomed into an international crisis with England, 21, as one of the most visible actors. More quietly, England has emerged as Exhibit Afor conservatives who have long opposed women serving in combat roles, partly on the grounds that pregnancies could hurt military readiness and that sexual relationships among the troops could harm discipline.

The father of the baby is Cpl. Charles Graner, 35, who served with England in the Army Reserve's 372nd military police unit based near Cumberland, Md. Graner and England are both divorced.

Pregnancy has been a hot-button topic as long as women have served in the armed forces, with pregnancy leading to automatic discharge until the early 1970s.

Abortion is not an option for most soldiers because U.S. law prohibits federal funds to be used for the procedure in military hospitals overseas, except in cases where the mother's life is endangered.

Sexual tensions and pregnancies may be unavoidable in a co-ed military. In a 1999 report to the Congressional Committee on Military Training and Gender Related Issues, one Navy recruit trainer spoke out on the subject.

"I think putting males and females on ships and sending them away for six months and asking them not to get together is ridiculous," the trainer was quoted as saying. "We put people in no-win situations. We ask 18- and 19-year-olds to march in close confines and do not expect hormones to take over. Please."